Transforming Social Work Practice through Education in Human Rights
The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being…. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work. (from the IFSW Definition of Social Work)
As world commerce and communication proliferate, global social and economic inequities come into clearer focus. It becomes increasingly apparent that the social work profession throughout the world must expand its role in sustainable human development. In the United States, social work has evolved in the directions of more specialization in clinical services and a greater effort to craft social work in business models. At the same time, the profession has moved away from practice that focuses on promoting changes intended to enhance social and economic human rights. Such rights form the bedrock of the profession. If social work is to focus on social change and human liberation as well as on alleviating individual human suffering, practitioners must have skills to develop action plans for addressing social and economic injustice on direct service and policy levels. Social workers must be able to understand human rights issues within a global and local framework. This challenges social work educators to teach future practitioners how human rights concepts are relevant to practice roles, while preparing them to become change agents.
The presenters will describe in detail one assignment developed for use with upper-level baccalaureate students in U.S. colleges and universities. The assignment requires students to identify a human rights instrument (i.e., UN convention or declaration) pertinent to the purpose and substance of the work undertaken by the student’s field agency and then to develop a strategy for furthering the implementation of that instrument within the agency or community. The presenters will describe results of their qualitative analysis of students’ responses to the assignment and discuss further implementation of this approach. Methods of supporting students in broadening their understanding of the social work role in furthering global/local human rights will be discussed.